


Waterfall

by frayedknot



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Badass Wendy Corduroy, F/F, F/M, Older Dipper Pines, Romance, and then it was stan who decided to send them home and not their parents, i don't trust parents who don't care enough to check up on kids more than once, i mean their parents only checked up on them when they were homeless, mabel is a matchmaker, the twins were neglected
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:14:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 18,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23695243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frayedknot/pseuds/frayedknot
Summary: Dipper and Mabel are turning 21 this year. Dipper missed coming to Gravity Falls over the summers since he was 16, opting to remain in Piedmont for summer college courses, but he's graduated now. So he returns to Gravity falls, only this year, the twins are staying.I apologize if the math is off, I suck at math. Rated M for explicit swearing and mentions of sex.
Relationships: Pacifica Northwest/Mabel Pines, Wendy Corduroy/Dipper Pines
Comments: 43
Kudos: 78





	1. Return to Gravity Falls

Dipper steps off the bus, scratching his chin. He had been up since 2 a.m., finding the bus uncomfortable to sleep on. They got on at 1 a.m., the earliest bus to get to Gravity Falls. He looks at himself in his front facing camera, grimacing at the stubble he sees.

"Pacifica!" Mabel screeches, and Dipper winces at the shrill shout of his sister.

"Mabel! I missed you," the rich girl smiles the widest Dipper had ever seen when Mabel kisses her. "Dipper, I didn't know you were coming this year!"

Dipper sheepishly rubs the back of his head, knocking Wendy's hat aside. They had started trading their hats back and forth during the summers Dipper had gone to Gravity Falls, until neither hat felt like specifically Dipper's or specifically Wendy's. "Yeah, I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Oh, it will be." Paz grins. "You've changed a lot in five years."

"I mean look at you!" Mabel shouts, rubbing her hand across Dipper's face. "You can actually grow a beard now!"

Dipper laughs, pushing Mabel's hand away. "Mabes, it's not a big deal."

A far cry from the boy he was almost nine years ago. He had broadened up, his time on the track team and having an actual workout routine helping him lose his pre-teenage chub and gain muscle. Puberty hit him like a bus, facial hair finally growing in and his jawline sharpened up.

"Yes it is!" she exclaims, only to be elbowed by Pacifica. "Ow! Paz, what was that for?"

"Let's head to the Shack. I'm sure your grunkles will be excited to see you both." Pacifica gives Mabel a pointed look.

Dipper smiles. "It'll be mutual, but I'll also be excited to shower. And shave."

He climbs into the backseat of Pacifica's sleeked up car- perks of having rich parents, he supposes- and naps for the 20 minutes it takes to get to the Mystery Shack. He wakes up to him swatting Mabel's hand from poking him.

"Sleepyhead," Mabel laughs. "Get up, get up!"

Dipper groans and pulls himself out of the car, glancing at his watch. "Mabel it's only 6:30."

"So? It's not my fault I can sleep on a bus and you can't!"

Dipper stretches, cracking his back. "Man, it is good to be back."

He grabs both his and Mabel's bags, slinging the duffel bags over his shoulders and just holding the others.

"Mabel and- Dipper!" Grunkle Ford exclaims. Stan looks and sees the twins walking side by side and smiles.

"Hey! It's the Mystery Twins!" Grunkle Stan pushes past Ford to grab the twins into headlocks, giving them both noogies. "How's my favorite great-niece-and-nephew?"

Mabel laughs and hugs the Grunkles. "So great!"

"Dipper, how's that doctorate's doing?" Ford meticulously examines Dipper, using his thumb and forefinger to move his head around. "My God, how you've grown. You're as tall as Stanley and I."

"Thanks, Grunkle Ford. Well, I finished." Dipper laughs. "I just decided to not walk the stage. I was nervous enough arguing my thesis."

"So you're DD! Doc Dip!" Stan teases. Dipper just rolls his eyes.

"Can I shower?"

"If you tell us what you're doctorate is in!" Soos shouts, hugging the twins.

"Soos! How long were you here?" Mabel shouts at the same time Dipper answers, "I did a double major, actually. My doctorate is in biology but I have a masters in sports medicine."

"Those are... completely different." Stan raises his eyebrow. 

"Well that's because I need to have a background on how to patch up broken bones if I'm moving here," Dipper shrugs. "I got a grant to document the ecosystem of the mysteries of Gravity Falls. I've already hired Manly Dan to build my cabin, and it should be done in three days."

Ford's eyes twinkle. "Ah, taking after me, I see."

Dipper smiles. "Can I like... shower now? I think I'm starting to smell." Dipper laughs.

"Yeah, you smell just like you did when you first came to Gravity Falls," Stan teases Dipper, who shudders at the thought of who he was as a kid. 

"Yep. That confirms it. I need a shower." Dipper heads into the Shack and greets Melody before heading up and starting the shower. He steps in and lets his mind wander as the warm water rolls down his body. He thinks somewhat about his research, but mainly about Wendy. The water seems to get hotter when he thinks about Wendy, but he forces himself to calm down. Last he heard, she was dating someone that she met in college before she dropped out. They kept in touch often, though they typically avoided talking about either of their love lives. On Dipper's side, it was because he doesn't really have one. He quickly washes off, stepping out of the shower before realizing he left all of the bags at the door of the Shack. He glances at the clock.

7:45. 15 minutes until the Mystery Shack opens. Enough time to go down, grab his bag, and run back up. He wraps his towel around his waist, making sure that he has it gripped tight in his hand. He walks down the stairs from the attic but freezes. Red hair. Wendy. He's tempted to sprint back upstairs, since he's literally naked, but... there's still no clothes upstairs that he could fit into. Everything is from when he was 12 and wore the same outfit every day. And smelled. All he can do is hope Wendy doesn't turn around.

But nothing ever goes well for Dipper. Of course she turns around.

"Dipper?!" Wendy lunges forward and hugs him before pulling back quickly. "Why aren't you dressed, man?"

"I, uh, left my backs down here." Dipper points at his duffel bag.

Wendy blushes and glances up at Dipper. "Man, it's so weird seeing you taller than me. And you can grow a beard! And you're, like... weirdly muscular." Dipper feels Wendy's eyes settle on his tattoos. "What are these for, dude? They don't look like traditional college boy tattoos."

Dipper laughs and picks up his bags. "How about I tell you after I clean up? And after you're done with your shift here."

Wendy smiles and pushes him to the stairs. "It's a date."

He tries not to think of the implications of her sentence.


	2. Wendy

He dresses, putting himself in his red t-shirt and blue flannel that reminds him ever-so-slightly of the clothes he wore everyday when he was 12. He sighs slightly, nostalgia settling heavily on his shoulders. He looks at himself in the mirror and smiles. He’s home. For as long as he wants. Not just the summer this time.

Dipper shaves, hyping himself up as he does so. Even though he knows it’s just to catch up on the stuff they didn’t text about, he can’t help but to mull over what exactly Wendy meant by “It’s a date.” Logically he knows it’s just a phrase, just a phrase to say “hey, we’re doing something together.” Yet he can’t help but feel it means something  _ more. _

He calms himself down and finishes shaving, putting on his trusty bomber hat. He’s glad he still had something of Wendy in Piedmont, through high school and college. Dr. Pines. That’s what he is now, technically a doctor. At 20. While not a medicine doctor, a doctor nonetheless.

He heads downstairs after throwing his wallet in his pocket. He sees Soos, who bounds over to Dipper.

“Oh hey dude, did you want to work here today? We’re supposed to get suuuuper busy today and Wendy and I can only do so much.”

“Sure thing,” Dipper shrugs. “I bet Mabel will help too.”

Soos hugs Dipper. “Oh dawg, you smell better too!”

Dipper grins when he sees Wendy, sneaking behind her and grabbing the pine tree hat. He quickly swaps their hats and winks at Wendy, going to the register and relieving Melody so she can do her actual job of giving tours. As he rings out everything from tees to eyeballs, he can’t help but be excited for the summer. Spending the summer with Mabel and the gang again is going to be so fun. He gets lost in working, not noticing the hours go by until-

“Well well well, Dippy Pines…”

Dipper looks up, “Oh. Gideon.”

Gideon looks the exact same. Dipper’s kind of glad that that hasn’t changed. He’s still wearing that hideous blue outfit and he’s still shorter than Dipper is, though he is taller than Mabel now. Mabel capped out at 5’3” so it wasn’t very hard for people to outgrow her. What would have infuriated him didn’t seem to bother her.

“I’d expect you to be a little more grateful after I helped save you during the Weirdmaggedon.” Gideon glares at him.

“That was only because you felt guilty about keeping my sister in a bubble. Which was… weird, man. I don’t know why you thought it would work.”

“Listen to me, Pines. She will be mine one day, and there’s nothing that you can do to change it.” Gideon whirls around and marches out of the store.

“She’s dating Pacifica!” Dipper shouts at his back. He shudders.

“Didn’t miss him, huh?” Wendy’s suddenly at Dipper’s side, which causes him to start.

“What? Oh, yeah, I could go a while without seeing him again.”

Wendy laughs and Dipper can’t wait to hear her laugh again. “So, the Shack closes in 15. I want to head home and shower but go to Greasy’s for dinner after?”

“Sure thing. I have to pick up my car anyway. I’ll pick you up at 6?”

“Ooh, a car. Getting fancy, Dip. Sounds good. It’ll give me enough time to make food for my dad. He’s got this massive job that wraps up in a few days. It’s tiring him out but it’s good pay.”

Dipper internally smiles at how that massive job is his house and base. “That’s really good for him. Okay, I’ll see you at 6.”

Wendy grins and saunters away.

“See you at six,” he repeats, a grin still on his face.

“Hey! Are you going to ring me up or not?” a lady shouts, startling Dipper.

“Sorry,” he sputters, quickly ringing up the lady before closing the register. Soos turns the open sign off and grins at Melody.

Dipper excuses himself and leaves, waving to Soos and Wendy before meeting with Ford.

“Thanks for driving me to the lot.” Dipper gets into the passenger seat of Ford’s car and grins at him.

“So, Doctor Pines…” Ford glances over to the young man. “I’m proud of you.”

Dipper looks down at his hands. “Oh, uh, thanks.”

“How did your parents react when you argued your thesis?”

“They didn’t know. Still don’t, actually.”

“What do you mean, kiddo?”

“Well, they really didn’t care a whole lot that I started college early so I didn’t tell them.” Dipper shrugs and points to the lot. “Uh, I think it’s in there.”

Ford wants to say more but bites his tongue, pulling around to where the entrance sign indicates. He lets Dipper get out and investigate the car before stepping out and looking at it too. A nice sized car, a lot of storage space, and good fuel efficiency. A good choice, if he could say so himself.

The deal goes smoothly and Dipper buys the car.

“Thank you for driving me, Grunkle Ford.”

Ford pats Dipper on the shoulder and laughs. “Think of it as your graduation present. Well, part of it, at least. Had I known you graduated I would’ve had an actual present but I will get that to you soon.”

Dipper shakes his head. “You really don’t have to, Grunkle Ford.”

“Nonsense! It’s a big deal for anyone to graduate with a doctorate.”

Dipper just shakes his head again. “Well, thank you.”

Dipper hugs Ford and the two get into their respective cars. Dipper fiddles with the radio in his car, plugging in an aux cord and driving towards the Corduroy household where he finds Wendy already sitting outside. She hops up when she sees Dipper in the car and runs to him.

“Dude, this car, like, rocks!”

Dipper laughs and the two hug. “To Greasy’s?”

As they sit in a booth, Wendy’s face drops from a smile. “So… what’s with those tattoos? Earlier you seemed, I dunno man, kinda serious about them.”

Dipper takes a deep breath and pulls off his flannel. “These all start in Piedmont.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter out by next thursday:)


	3. Tattoos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper explains the tattoo origins.

“Piedmont, well… It’s not like Gravity Falls. It’s less monster-infested. It was pretty boring. But the Winchester House is supposedly really haunted. The worst I saw there was a level two ghost. Barely anything, and they asked me to not get rid of it because it helps generate income for the people who own the House. So I decided not to do anything, but I began doing research into different infestations and monsters. That’s where this one comes in.” Dipper points to a smaller one on his wrist. “I did some research and it’s a protection ward against demons, it makes it much harder for them to possess me. I was only 16. It was something I worried about. I hadn’t really hit the last stage of puberty and I couldn’t physically fight.”

Wendy nods, tracing the tattoo. “Why didn’t you do a bracelet of charms?”

“I thought about it. I tried it with a necklace but one fall ripped it and, at that point, I hadn’t even stepped foot into the haunted mansion so I decided getting it tattooed on would be easier.”

“Man, that would be bad if you had done that during an actual hunt.”

Dipper laughs and rubs the tattoo himself. “Yeah that might be a little sucky. So I got it tattooed instead of leaving it up to chance.” He hesitates and Wendy takes notice, taking his hand into hers.

“Hey, if you don’t want to talk about it you don’t have to.”

“Most of these are innocent but there are some that just… get dark. I wasn’t mentally well in a lot of these. I never got so bad that I considered suicide but that was mostly because I had Mabel. I threw myself into hunting and school that I just… never took a day for myself.” Dipper sighs and rubs his forehead, giving Wendy a glance of that tattoo he’s nicknamed after. “This one is… well, it’s one of those stories.”

“Order for Pines,” the waitress shouts and Wendy holds Dipper’s shoulder, telling him she would get the food. Wendy sits back down and hands Dipper his food, putting the tray aside.

“If this is ever too difficult for you, Mason, it’s okay.”

Dipper starts, not used to his real name being used. He likes it, though, coming from Wendy’s lips. It’s soft, it’s… it’s them.

“No, I want to tell you. It’s just the only person who knows is Mabel and that’s because we tell each other almost everything.” Dipper rubs his eyes and sips on the coffee Wendy bought him. “Okay this one, it’s because I was being stupid. I was… 17, I think. Maybe closing in on 18. I went on a hunt for something that Ford just briefly touched on. Level 11. It could possess humans like a knife through butter, with total ease. And I was stupid enough to go in with minimal supplies. I… I got possessed. I did some pretty horrible things. I choked a man to near death. Mabel was concerned after a few days of me not coming home and looked for me. She did an exorcism, essentially, and, well, I survived. The man was the owner of the building so no charges were pressed but God, that was a bad time.” Dipper points to a tattoo on his inner arm. “So I did my research. Figured out what myths were connected to it and a spell that would ensure I couldn’t get possessed by a creature like that ever again. The spell had to be drawn on my arm, and the ash stained my skin. From what I could tell, staining means it is on permanently. It hasn’t gone away since, so thankfully it hasn’t been broken.”

Dipper recounts his stories until the ones on his arms are all explained, each one with varying degrees of pain to the story.

“There are a few peeking out of the neck of your tee.” Wendy points out a few, like one near his collarbone and one on the opposite side.

“How about we ditch this popsicle stand and go to the swimming pool.”

“We’d have to break in,” Wendy raises her eyebrow. “And we both saw how Mr. Poolcheck is.”

Dipper shrugs. “I’ve seen scarier since. But if you’re too chicken, we can go to the lake instead.”

“A challenge, huh?” Wendy cracks a grin and punches Dipper’s shoulder. “Okay, man, you’re on. First to be caught by Mr. Poolcheck pays for our next dinner.”

“Deal.” Dipper stands up and throws the trash away, tossing his keys to Wendy. “Your turn to drive.”

“Wait, for real? Sick!” Wendy sprints to the car and gets used to the car and smiles at Dipper. “To the pool!”

When they get to the pool, Wendy gets out of the car first. “I didn’t bring a suit.”

Dipper laughs at Wendy and begins stripping. “And when has that ever stopped you?”

Wendy blushes and looks away, beginning to undress down to her underwear. She looks back to see Dipper already in the pool.

“Slowpoke!” Dipper shouts. Wendy narrows her eyes and sprints, canon-balling into the pool to splash Dipper. He laughs and splashes Wendy back. She takes a good look at the tattoos on his chest. One is on his heart, and the other, the one she could see peeking out of his tee earlier, looks eerily similar. Bill.

“Why do you have Bill Cipher on you?” Wendy backs up from Dipper, panic rising.

“It’s protection.”

“But it’s Bill. He used you as a puppet.”

“Wendy, it’s okay. Look in my eyes, see? I’m not Bill. The symbols on this one are the same Ford drew when we faced him during Weirdmageddon. It prevents Bill from taking over my mind even if we shake hands.”

“Bill’s supposed to be dead.”

“I know. And I keep telling myself that. But I… I get dreams. Dreams where he’s there and he’s messing with the world around me. It scares me so badly. I can’t tell if he’s alive or dead. If Stan regained his memory does this mean Bill’s still alive? It’s just… scary. So I did my research. This helps calm me down. If Bill is alive, he can’t be possessed.”

Wendy pushes through the water to get to Dipper and hugs him tight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter by next thursday!


	4. Comfort in Scary Times

Dipper falls into the hug willingly, for once unaware of how his body is pressed against Wendy’s. He bites his lip to stifle a sob. But Wendy, somehow picking up on his emotions as if he was a 13 year old boy once again, rubs his back soothingly.

“It’s okay to let out your feelings, Mason. I’m right here.”

Dipper lets himself cry, the first time in front of anyone other than Mabel. 

“I’m scared pretty much all the time,” he sobs. “If Grunkle Stan can regain his memory, does that mean Bill could be back?”

“I don’t know, Dipper. The best we can do is hope,” Wendy says honestly. Dipper appreciates the blunt honesty. “We assume he’s dead because he isn’t fucking around with people’s bodies and minds, but you did the right thing by getting that tattoo, if it brings you peace of mind.”

Dipper finally pulls back from Wendy’s embrace. “It did, mostly. Sometimes I hate how that was the only thing that worked, but it’s not like I could talk about it to a therapist. They’d try to send me to the hospital. They would think that I’m like, insane, or something like that.”

“Well what about me? Or Mabel? Or the Stans or Soos? We all went through Bill. Hell, I was frozen as a tapestry. You’re never alone, Mason. Never.”

Dipper tries to laugh and wipe away his tears. He looks down into Wendy’s eyes. “Sometimes it feels like the weight of the world rests on my shoulders.”

Wendy nods and hoists herself up to the edge of the pool, tapping the concrete next to her. “I know what you mean. If I had only done this or that maybe I could have prevented it.”

Dipper pulls himself up. He tries not to blush when Wendy rests her head on his shoulder.

His… bare… shoulder…

He fails at not blushing, praying she doesn’t notice.

Ah, but of course, the great Pines luck. She notices.

“Ooh the big man Dipper over here is red,” she teases, only deepening his blush. 

He smiles at Wendy before pushing her into the pool. The redhead shrieks and grabs Dipper’s wrist, pulling him in after her. The loud splashes echo and Dipper hums contentedly. “If only everyday could be like this.”

“Oh, dude, you’d get so tired of me,” Wendy retorts.

“I could never,” Dipper speaks softly. Wendy falters and her mind blanks, so she does what her reflexes tell her to do. She splashes Dipper. He sputters, spitting the water out of his mouth before picking her up in the water and dunking her. They both laugh loudly, happiness settling in.

The pair float on their backs, their hands just barely grazing every once in a while. They let the silence linger, calm enveloping the two.

“My skin feels like raisins,” Wendy finally comments. Dipper floats to his feet and looks at Wendy, who’s holding her hands up.

“Did you know scientists think it’s an evolutionary trait to help humans grip things in water?” Dipper supplies. 

“So we can… do what, exactly?”

“You know, I’m not sure,” Dipper admits, laughing at the confused look in the redhead’s face. “How about we get you home so you can shower the chlorine off and get normal fingers?”

Wendy nods and yawns. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. I’m getting tired.”

Dipper pulls himself out of the water and grabs two towels, tossing one to Wendy. He dries himself off enough to put on his clothes and his shoes and gets into the driver’s seat of his car. He turns on the radio while waiting for Wendy to get in and lays his head back. He hums along to the song that starts playing as Wendy gets in the car. 

“Can we see each other tomorrow?” she asks while Dipper pulls out of the parking lot.

“We can see each other whenever you want,” Dipper answers, smiling in the dark.

Before long, he hears Wendy snore quietly and he turns down the radio, letting her sleep in quiet. When he pulls into Wendy’s driveway, he gets out and knocks, explaining that Wendy is asleep to Manly Dan. He lets Dipper take Wendy up to her room, smiling as Dipper hoists her up bridal style.

“Oh hey, Mason, your cabin should be done by noon tomorrow.”

“Oh, really? I thought it wasn’t supposed to be done for a few days still. Awesome!”

“Yeah, but my boys wanted some extra cash so I let them come help. Don’t worry, they’re really good.”

“I’m not worried at all, the Corduroy work is always top tier.”

Manly Dan grins and pats Dipper’s shoulder. “Of course it is, boy!” He bellows out a laugh.

Dipper goes back to the Shack, heading up to the attic. He showers off the chlorine and then goes to bed.

When he wakes up, he sees Mabel’s face mere inches from his.

“Holy fuck!” he shouts, flopping out of bed.

“So how did your date go?” Mabel bounces, jumping up on his bed.

“Mabes, it wasn’t a date.”

“Mmm, it kinda was.”

“It’s literally just an expression. There was no date date.”  _ Unfortunately,  _ Dipper adds to himself.

“You can believe that,” Mabel sings.

“I’ll continue to know that,” Dipper retorts. “Wanna help me pack? My house will be ready around noon, apparently.”

“OOOOH CAN WE HAVE A SLEEPOVER?” Mabel immediately shouts, shaking the bed.

“We can have a sleepover if you help me pack,” Dipper thinks, “And make breakfast?”

“DEAL!” Mabel shouts again, sprinting down the stairs. Dipper laughs to himself.

He begins packing everything he had left at the Shack from before and his clothes from now. The rest of his stuff will be arriving later this week, shipped from his parents’ house in Piedmont.

“Brobro, pancakes are done!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's on the shorter side, school and work have been kicking my ass. But I finished my college courses yesterday, so hopefully I won't be too tired for next Thursday's chapter!


	5. Secret Tunnel

Dipper eats his pancakes with a smile.

“So, you want the grand tour of the house?”

“DUH!” Mabel screams, and hugs Dipper. “Of course I wanna tour your super cool house! Does it have oddities like the Mystery Shack?”

Dipper laughs and passes the maple syrup to Mabel. “Not yet, but it might. I’ll be collecting information on how oddities of Gravity Falls contribute to the ecosystem. So if I stumble on a dead one already, I’ll collect it to study it’s biology but I won’t actively hunt them.”

“Smart choice, Brobro.” Mabel nods and stuffs her face full of pancakes.

“Hey dudes, leave some for the rest of us,” Soos protests as he walks in. Mabel sighs dramatically.

“Do I have toooooooooo?” Mabel wails loudly.

Dipper eyes his watch and stands up. “I’m going to throw my bags in my car.”

“Grand tour time?”

“Soon.” Dipper nods. “But first, you have to shower. You kinda smell.”

“Hey!” Mabel protests, mouth still full of pancakes.

“You do,” Dipper teases again, and starts climbing the stairs, before calling out over his shoulder, “Be ready by 11:30!”

“Can I come too, dawg?”

“Yes!” Dipper shouts from upstairs. He finishes packing up his final bag and goes downstairs, heading out the door. He tosses the duffel bag in his car and heads back inside, sitting at the table with his coffee. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and texts Wendy.

_ House tour at 12? _

He puts his phone back on his table, waiting for the reply.

_ Dude no way! You’re the big project my dad’s been working on? _

Dipper laughs and texts back quickly.  _ Yup! Join Mabel, Pacifica, Soos, and the Grunkles on a tour of my new home starting at 12! Be there or be square! (Plus, I will be very hurt if you don’t show.) _

_ You big softie. _

Dipper laughs and leans back into his chair, setting his phone down and finishing his coffee. 21 and addicted to coffee. Hey, aren’t all young adults?

He busies himself by playing games on his phone and snacking on cereal until about 11:25 when Mabel bursts back downstairs screeching. “PACIFICAAAAAAA!”

Dipper laughs and stands up, brushing crumbs off of his pants and going to the door. He leans against the wall and watches the two hug. “Hey Paz.”

“Hey Dippy.”

“Oh, Brobro, is it time to go?”

“Yup. I want to get there early to throw my bags into my room.” Dipper grabs his keys. “”Just follow me. It’s kinda secluded.”

The drive to his new house goes relatively smooth, with only one occasion of a frantic phone call from Mabel because she couldn’t find her keys.

“Mabel, they’re in the Mystery Shack.” Dipper rubs his forehead and sighs.

With the crisis diverted, they get to the house just five minutes before 12. The Stans already arrived, waiting with presents.

“Hey, Dr. D!” Grunkle Stan claps Dipper on the back. “We got you a housewarming present.”

“It’s nothing too much,” Grunkle Ford adds, “but it’s something that we believe will be useful in the long run.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Dipper shakes his head and takes the present from Ford. “Thank you guys.”

Dipper opens the front door and places the present on a table in the walkway. “The tour will start in just a few minutes, we’re still waiting on Wendy.”

“Dude, I’m right here.”

Dipper spins around. “Wendy! Hey!”

“Hey yourself, Dip. My dad wanted some more help to finish early so he brought me along.”

Dipper hugs Wendy and waits for the rest to greet each other. “So I guess the tour starts now, then.”

The tour consists of everything but the basement, since the basement wasn’t quite finished yet.

“And, the part that will be the most exciting for Mabel, her own room whenever she wants to stay over.”

“Hell yes!” Mabel shouts and flops on the bed. “This is so comfortable! I love it!”

“Then we can have sleepovers while still being able to maintain privacy,” Dipper adds. “Plus, I requested this be painted pink.”

“Perfect!” Mabel shouts. Everyone laughs and leaves Mabel to get acquainted with the room. Wendy pulls Dipper aside.

“Hey, dude, I got something for you. For the house.” Wendy hands him a picture frame. It’s of him, Wendy, Mabel, and Pacifica huddling around a campfire, all smiling. It was the last summer Dipper spent in Gravity Falls. On his birthday.

Dipper tries not to tear up. “It’s perfect.”

“So where are you gonna hang it up?”

“Above the fireplace.” Dipper strides over and puts it on the mantle, leaning against the wall. “Until I have time to decorate everything.”

Wendy punches Dipper’s arms. “Hey, no need to go soft on me.”

“I, uh, actually have one more thing to show you.”

Dipper grabs Wendy’s hand with a blush and pulls her away. He takes her to the bookshelf.

“I don’t read much.” Wendy laughs. “I think you grabbed the wrong girl.”

Dipper rolls his eyes. “I know you don't read, but it's much cooler than that. Promise."

"Okay, then what are you waiting for?"

Dipper smiles and pulls out a book. Behind the book is a switch, which he flicks. The bookcase drops below, showing a path.

"Dude that's like, fricking cool!"

"Fricking?" Dipper questions, but laughs anyways. "I wanted you to know where it is. In case you get in trouble and need somewhere to crash."

"Are you encouraging me to break the law?"

"Sometimes the laws are immoral. Like, there's a law that says that if you see a minotaur, you are legally obligated to try and kill it." Dipper shudders. "It's awful."

Wendy nods. "I see what you're getting at. Thanks, dude."

She surprises both of them by hugging Dipper tight without any other comment.

_ He could stay like this forever, _ he thinks. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet again, chapter next Thursday! :)


	6. Look at My Lab

He isn’t sure of how long they stand like this, in each other’s embrace, before he can hear Mabel about to enter. He separates so he can hide the door entrance.

Listen, he trusts Mabel with every fiber of his being, but he’s afraid she’ll get hurt if she explores down there and finds anything dangerous. She loves playing with dangerous things. He just wants to protect her, he reasons. He’ll tell her eventually, he adds on. Just now, he wants it to be just his and Wendy’s.

The grant money covered all of his base, including the equipment to analyze the different organisms within Gravity Falls. The odd paranormal organisms, the government thought, could possibly be helpful in defending their own bases or defending humans.

When Mabel walks in, she sees the little amount of space between the blushing redhead and her stuttering twin. “Ooh, was this a first kiss moment?”

Dipper fumbles with his words before Wendy steps in and relieves him of the awkwardness.

“Nope, just teasing him about how he’s  _ still  _ such a nerd.”

“Uh huh…” Mabel raises an eyebrow but doesn’t press the issue any further. She starts bouncing in front of Dipper, pouting. “Anyways, I’m hungry.”

As if the mention of hunger summons him, Soos pokes his head through the doorway. “I’m down for some food, dudes.”

Dipper rolls his eyes teasingly and laughs loudly. "If one of you wants to get burgers or dogs, I can grill us some lunch if you're interested."

Mabel pumps her arms. "Yes! Paz and I will go!"

"Can I come too?" Soos asks and, soon, everyone but Dipper and Ford wants to go to the store so they can get snacks and condiments. Dipper shrugs.

"Just get whatever, I'm not picky. Wait, can you get me some orange pop?"

Ford shares the same sentiment, asking only for Pit Cola, and stays behind, the pair watching everyone leave for the store. Dipper decides to show Ford his lab, opening another door off of the main hall that leads to it.

"Impressive, Dipper. A wide variety of equipment." Ford inspects a few microscopes and other equipment Dipper has. "I wish I had this level of scientific experience when I first became a researcher. So, what do you plan to do with this research?"

"Well, the government wants it so they can analyze whether placing the creatures in other regions would be helpful. If the gnomes, for example, could be useful in forest areas in other places to help boost different animal populations like squirrels. Which then can help tree growth because they plant seeds. Or, if the ecosystem of Gravity Falls pertains only to Gravity Falls and if placing these creatures elsewhere would just wreak havoc on other ecosystems. I also get to determine if speciation will occur if we put them in another environment, if they will remain the same, or if they will just die off."

Ford grins. "Very scientific."

Dipper laughs. "Well, it is biology."

"I suppose it is," Ford takes one last look around the room. "Where are you going to keep this information?"

"I'm going to keep it primarily in a journal like you did, but I will be uploading it to a secure cloud so I never lose the data, even if something were to happen to the journal. Anything can happen in Gravity Falls."

Ford nods, scratching the stubble he begun to grow. "I suppose that's more useful than just a journal. It certainly would have been very helpful had the internet been around when I begun my research."

"Bill would have found a way to destroy the entire internet if he so pleased," Dipper adds. "It was a miracle your research made it past Journal 1, really."

"That's a fair assessment." Ford sighs and brushes his hair away from his forehead. "Cipher always was a tricky one. The only one I could never handle."

Dipper sits in one of the chairs. Hesitantly, he adds, "I suppose we won't have to worry about that anymore, though."

Ford takes note of the quiver in his voice and he pats Dipper's knee. "Is there something bothering you?"

Dipper keeps his head low. "I keep having dreams about him."

"About Cipher?"

"Yes, him," Dipper traces his birthmark, something he started to do when he gets anxious, a habit picked up when he wasn't medicated for his anxiety. "I don't know if he's actually dead. Stan regained his memory, so what's stopping Bill from being alive?"

Ford sighs and sits next to Dipper. "Well, I suppose we truly can't tell. I haven't been having dreams but I know Stanley has. Above anything, Mason, we have each other. We all have tells of when Cipher was in our body. You, for example, called Wendy Red. I always tugged on my hair. If anything like that happens, you and I will know. We all know each other very well, they will be able to tell, too. Plus, there's always the eyes thing."

Dipper nods. "Okay."

A simple response, the Pines son knows, but it conveys enough.

_ I believe you, Grunkle Ford. I trust you. _

Dipper sees the cars before Ford. "Hey Grunkle Ford, what do you think everyone got?"

"Stanley got the cheapest meat possible," Ford stands and pulls Dipper up too. "Mabel didn't get any meat but bought a cake of some sort. Wendy bought hamburgers and chips, and Soos bought anything that looked good. I'm not sure about Pacifica, though. You know that girl better than me, so you tell me."

"She definitely got the high end stuff. While she isn't as bad about flaunting her wealth as she used to be, she still cares about the food she eats." Dipper watches the door fling open, courtesy of Mabel. "Probably vegan patties, or some other kind of vegetable based meat. I personally don't enjoy it, but Paz sure does."

As it turns out, both were right on the nose except for Soos, who bought only a quarter of what Dipper was expecting.

"I'm trying to eat better for Melody," he declares when Ford asks. "I want to be around for a while."

Dipper pretends not to see Pacifica tear up, instead turning to his grill and starting it. He lets everyone get comfortable inside the house as he watches with pride. His first home, with his family.

He's not sure if he could be any happier. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter next Thursday! It's gonna be juicy;)


	7. Dipper's Dreams, pt 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late! I had college orientation yesterday so I was exhausted.

The day ends too quickly for Dipper’s taste and he watches everyone do the typical white-person thing of standing up and slapping their legs to signify that it’s time for them to go. He sighs as Mabel and Pacifica drive off together, presumably to Pacifica’s house. Their disappearance marks the Grunkles as the only ones left in Dipper’s house. He turns to them, and hugs Ford, who pats him on the back firmly.

“You can always talk to me, if you need to, Mason.”

“Thank you,” Dipper whispers back.

Grunkle Stan lingers as Ford walks to the car they drove in together.

“He told you,” Dipper states, not accusatory, just stating it.

“We don’t keep secrets anymore.” Stan sits down and pats the seat next to him. Dipper follows suit. “I think Bill is dead. But no one can be completely sure. I regained most of my memories, but there’s still spotty parts. So even if he is alive, he must be capped in some way, maybe weaker in his powers, or maybe human. We all have each other’s backs. Everything will be okay.”

Dipper nods. “I know. I just have anxiety.” Dipper laughs quietly and starts rubbing his birthmark.

Stan takes one long look at Dipper and smiles softly. "I feel you."

They sit in silence for just a minute before Stan stands up to leave. Dipper smiles wearily, worn out from the day. He watches the final car back out of his driveway and yawns.

6:00. A fine time for a nap, he decides, and settles himself on the sofa.

And wakes up in hell. Dipper.

"Where are you?" Dipper screams. "I KNOW YOU'RE HERE!"

"Pine Tree is getting smarter," Bill cackles and appears in a plume of fire. On instinct, Dipper winds back and punches at Bill, only to lurch forward as nothing connects with his fist. He feels a tap on his shoulder and he spins around, pulling back. He stumbles and falls, kicking upwards at last second to push Cipher away.

"He's learned some new tricks too," he adds, stepping closer to Dipper. "Don't forget, you're still that scared little boy you were when you were 12, Mason."

Dipper shivers and scoots backwards, awkwardly aware of every clumsy movement. Powerless. He spits, hitting Bill in the eye, who flinches and backs away. He feels himself grow a little more confident as he manages to trick Cipher once.

"I can make your life a living  _ hell,  _ Pine Tree. In fact, for that stunt, I think I will!" He raised a fist and Dipper's legs are suddenly chained to the floor. Cipher flies close to Dipper, eye to eyes. "You have made a powerful enemy, Mason, but don't be fooled, I will be coming for you."

He disappears in the same manner he arrived in, and Dipper wakes up in a cold sweat. He feels acid in his throat and rolls off the couch to sprint to the bathroom.

He retches in the toilet and coughs, choking out the last bit of lunch he had in his stomach.

"Check that off the firsts," he mumbles, rubbing his scar. Glancing at his watch, he sees that it's 10 p.m.

Not being sure of what else to do, he eats a piece of toast to try to settle his stomach and heads down to the lab to begin his preliminary research. He delves in, losing track of time as he immerses in. He falls asleep on top of his research at midnight.

At 3 a.m., he jolts awake to his phone ringing. 

"Dipper, you have to get to the Grunkles house."

"Mabel?" Dipper groggily asks. "What's going on?"

"Grunkle Ford has gone missing."

Dipper jumps up. "I'm on my way now."

He sprints to his car and drives to their house, breaking more than one law on the way. He pulls in at the same time that Wendy pulls in in her truck and Mabel and Pacifica arrive in Pacifica's car. All of them run to the door and let themselves in, worried about the flashing lights on the cop car.

"Stan!" Wendy shouts and sprints to the man who is being interrogated by the cops. "What happened?"

"We were sleeping and I suddenly heard this loud, I dunno, crash? And I knew it came from Ford's room and I got worried because there was no apology from Ford for wakin' me up, so I got to his room and the door was busted wide and he's gone a-"

Stan's explanation gets cut off by the police. "We'll ask them some questions now, Mr. Pines."

She goes through the group. All answer similarly.

No, Ford doesn't have enemies. No, there's no reason for this. No, Ford isn't rich. No, they don't know why this is happening to them. 

Dipper stands up and sighs.

"I'm sorry Mr. Pines, but is this not useful to you?" The officer snaps.

"It's doctor," Dipper blurts out and then blushes. "But obviously it isn't. We've all said the same thing and we aren't getting anywhere with the same questions being asked."

The officer narrows her eyes and grunts at him before turning back to Pacifica.

"Hey, man, it'll be okay. Ford will be found, whether it's by those incompetent cops or by us." Wendy puts her hand on Dipper's arm, stopping him from tugging at his hair in frustration. "We'll do our own investigations."

Dipper sighs and nods. "Okay."

The officer glares at Dipper. "Thank you all for your time. We'll update you on the investigation as we see fit."

Dipper is about to shout at the cop for saying as they see fit, but Wendy's hand slips down into his and he falters.

Dipper blushes and looks down until the cop leaves.

"Thanks," he mumbles. "I was about to lose it."

"I know." Wendy just squeezes Dipper's hand before dropping it and turning to face the group. Dipper looks around, gaze settling on a crying Mabel. He takes a deep breath.

"Bill is back," he says at the same time Stan says, "Cipher did it."


	8. Dipper's Dreams, pt 2

Mabel’s head jerks up and her jaw drops. “How do you know?”

“You first, kid,” Stan turns away, biting his lip.

“I keep having dreams of him. And in this last one I tried to physically fight him. He didn’t like it. He threatened to make my life a living hell. He promised it.” Dipper sighs. “And I’ve been having dreams similar to that.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Mabel asks, eyes watery. “We could’ve helped!”

Mabel tries to storm off but Pacifica grabs her hand. “Honey, you don’t tell Dipper everything.”

“Because those things aren’t important! They’re what I had for dinner or how I got free range chicken at the market instead of dinosaur nuggets! I would tell Dipper if I thought Bill was back!”

“I didn’t know he was back, Mabel!” Dipper shouts and stands up, getting close to Mabel. “They were dreams! Dreams I couldn’t tell were real, dreams that I thought were just that- dreams.”

Mabel storms off, slipping through Pacifica’s grip.

“Since when did she switch from dino nuggies? They’re the best!” Soos cuts in. 

The room lightens up just enough for Stan to turn back around.

“It’s my fault.”

“Why would it be your fault, Grunkle Stan?” Dipper asks quietly.

“If I would have just never remembered… If I could have remained just as the old guy who doesn’t know anything, Cipher wouldn’t be back.”

Dipper sits back down next to Stan. “And if we hadn’t forced you to remember, you wouldn’t have. And if I hadn’t pushed Mabel away, she wouldn’t have handed the rip over to Bill. And had we not come to Gravity Falls the summer we turned 13, you and your brother would have solved it quickly.” He gives Stan a side hug. “We all fucked up that summer, and what matters is that we defeat Bill again.”

“I don’t mean to be a bummer or anything, but we don’t even know where Bill is,” Wendy adds.

“We’ll find him.” Dipper stands up. “I will be making everyone who doesn’t want to be tattooed a charm for them to wear all the time. It will prevent Bill from taking your mind.”

“I’ll be getting tattooed,” Wendy decides. 

“I’m taking the charm,” Pacifica declares. “I will assume that Mabel will as well. But I’ll have her tell you the final decision.”

“No, I want something permanent.”

Dipper looks up to the doorway to see Mabel. He notices her uncomfortable shift.

“If you don’t want it tattooed on you, we can find a more permanent way that doesn’t involve needles.” Dipper pauses. “Wait, how did you know it was Cipher, Grunkle Stan?”

“He left a note.”

“A note?” Wendy questions. “What’s the point of the note?”

“That’s where the good news is- he’s much weaker. Either Ford makes him a supernatural being again or we do.”

“And if we don’t?” Mabel asks.

“He kills him.”

“But how did he plague me with those dreams?” 

“Maybe he still has some of his mystical powers.” Soos suggests. “Like, he can get into your mind and give Dipper some nightmares but he can’t do much else. And if he’s in his human form-”

“If we get him before Ford figures out how to make him into his ultimate form then we can kill him, for good this time!” Wendy finishes, standing up. “But how do we find him?”

“Good old fashioned investigation,” Stan offers.

“I’m sure he’ll send me dreams,” Dipper adds. “Maybe I can bait information out of that fuckface.”

“We can also find more unicorns, protect all of our houses.” Mabel offers. “I could get Candy and Grenda to help us again.”

Dipper nods. “I can’t get behind on my project or else I will lose my grant, but I will work as hard as I can to do both.”

“We’re all doing this together,” Wendy pulls Dipper up. “Together.”

“Dudes, we need to start now. The first 48 hours are the most important!” Soos declares. “Melody and I learned that together while watching TV!”

Everyone splits to search the house for any more clues. Mabel and Pacifica pair off and search the attic while Stan and Soos take the ground floor. Wendy and Dipper explore the basement.

“Everything with Bill is a game,” Dipper sighs. “But this time, he has something real at stake. His livelihood. I think he’s deteriorating, and that’s why he kidnapped Ford. His time is running out, and he can’t formulate a plan that doesn’t require my Grunkle.”

“You’re certainly on to something,” Wendy breaths out as she points at something on the ground.

“It’s another note,” Dipper kneels next to the note. “It’s from Ford.”

“Dipper,” Wendy starts reading, “You were right. Bill is back, and he’s coming for me. I will not tell him how to reach his full power.”

Dipper takes over. “He is human. He is defeatable. He is also blind. The only time he can see is when he is dreaming. He will use a team to get me. They will know where he is.”

“We have to get this to everyone. Maybe they’ll know where Bill could get a team to kidnap a known figure around here.”

“Wendy, you’re a genius!” Dipper jumps up and hugs Wendy tightly. He pulls away quickly, blushing, grateful that the lights are dim enough that she probably can’t see the blush.

“I know, but you can say it again,” Wendy winks, which only makes Dipper blush more. He grabs her hand and pulls her upstairs, running into Soos and Stan.

“We found a clue!” Wendy shouts, then calls for Paz and Mabel to come downstairs.

She reads the note to the group, and Pacifica brightens.

“I’m sure my dad used a group to kidnap people at some point, being the pig he is, so I’ll dig through his records.”

Wendy slips her hand into Dipper’s, and he knows that everything will be okay. Eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am pushing publish dates back to Friday, as i typically work shorter shifts on Friday and will be more able to publish on Fridays. I hope you like the story so far!


	9. Good and Bad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I'm sorry that I haven't been around. I got grounded for mouthing off to my stepmom so I havent had access to anything to upload this chapter. I'm super sorry!

Pacifica comes back the next day with good and bad news.

“The good news,” she starts, “is that my dad has used multiple crews to kidnap people. Though I guess that’s also bad news because it confirms my dad is the worst. The other bad news, then, is that it was multiple crews, so we have to investigate multiple crews.”

Mabel, already knowing this information, decides to add in. “There are six in total, so we figured we could split into pairs and take two groups each.”

Soos nods and grabs onto Stan’s arm. “I got you, dude, I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”

“Soos, you’re the one hurting me now,” Stan grunts and pushes Soos’s hand down his arm so it isn’t as tight. “Give us the names of the groups you want us to ask about.”

Pacifica hands him a small square of paper. She passes Dipper another, then keeps one for herself.

“Pacifica and I will take these two, because her dad is more acquainted to them so it may not be as weird if Paz shows up.”

Wendy turns to Dipper. “That leaves you and me, Dip.”

Dipper smiles softly and nods. “Do you want to drive or have me drive?”

“You drive. Also, roll your sleeves up.” She tosses the keys laying on his table and walks out, leaving Dipper to catch up.

“I… okay?”

“You have full sleeve tattoos, Mason,” Wendy acts like it’s obvious. “If you look tougher, it’s more believable that you would need something like this.”

Dipper nods and smiles. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

The car ride to the first location was quiet, only the quiet hum of the radio and the steady revving of the engine to listen to. He takes a deep breath then turns down the radio.

“I’m still confused. Why do I need to show my protections?”

“They don’t look like protection wards to people who know nothing,” Wendy explains. “If people see your Bill tattoo, for example, and react to it, we’ll know who to go after. That, and these groups will be less likely to try to beat us up if they think we’re out of place.”

“Oh, smart.” Dipper turns the radio up but Wendy turns it off.

“I’m sorry if I’m being rude.”

Dipper glances right, quizzically raising his eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I just had a rough night last night and I’m still not over it, and I’m sorry that I’m being an asshole today.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Dipper reaches out, eyes still on the road, his hand finally meeting hers. He gives it a squeeze and goes to let go, but Wendy keeps a tight grip. 

“Not right now, if that’s okay?” 

“Of course that’s okay, Wen.” Dipper gives one more squeeze as he pulls into a parking lot that looks shadier than many would be comfortable with, and he turns the car off. “I’ll always be here if you need to talk.”

Wendy smiles softly and lays her head on Dipper’s shoulder for just a moment before getting out of the car. Dipper follows and rolls the sleeves of his flannel up after considering Wendy’s words. Wendy’s grin is enough to convince him he made the right choice. They walk up to what seems to be the entrance and she reaches out and knocks.

The door opens slightly, enough that they can see half of a face. “Whatchu want.”

“We were looking for some… services,” Wendy acts shady herself, fooling the man into opening the door more.

“Man, why’s your bitch talking for you?” the guy asks Dipper. Dipper lunges forward and pushes the man against the wall.

“She’s not a bitch, you prick. I don’t own her, and neither does anyone else. Now, we need your group’s services, are you going to help us or not?”

“Woah, chill, chill. Fine. What services are you lookin’ for?” The man pushes a more calm Dipper off of him.

Dipper pauses and panics, but Wendy steps forward and slides her arm around Dipper’s torso and lays a hand on his chest. Dipper automatically places an arm around Wendy and fights the urge to gleefully laugh.

“His crazy ex-girlfriend, and we’re talking craaazy crazy, is trying to ruin our wedding plans that we’re coming up with for our wedding in the fall, and she just won’t leave us alone.” Wendy sighs and rolls her eyes, and Dipper’s stomach is queasy at the misogyny. Wendy squeezes his side to comfort him, knowing the feeling. “We just want you to kidnap her to teach her a lesson.”

“We can do that.”

“But we want proof you guys are good,” Dipper adds. “Like, maybe a past client.”

“Are you cops, bro?”

Dipper laughs. “Cops do nothing for this country and I’d rather be dead than be associated with them.”

The man nods. “Okay, well, the last person we did anything for was Mr. Northwest.”

“Who?”

“Just some whistleblower that was threatening to reveal he was using child labor,” the man explains. “Of course it came out anyway, so we got paid easy money.”

“We’ll consider you,” Wendy says, pulling Dipper away.

The man loudly protests but Dipper pulls the car away quickly.

“So we made some enemies,” Dipper laughs as he glances at the slowly disappearing house in the rearview mirror.”

The second location they pull up to is slightly nicer- it’s less broken down and there’s a doorbell. This time, Dipper reaches out and raps on the door, Wendy standing a few steps behind him. The door opens all the way and Dipper can see visible confusion on a boy’s, only about 6, face. The confusion melts off in a matter of seconds once he sees the tattoos on Dipper’s arm.

“Oh! You must be here for Dada! I get Dada!” The boy grins. “You know Billy too?”

Dipper looks at Wendy and Wendy looks back.

“Billy?” he asks.

“The kid knows Cipher.” Wendy answers bluntly. “We know who it is.”


	10. Found A Source

Dipper looks at Wendy. “What do we do now? The kid saw Bill in tattoo form so he isn’t human.”

“He has to be weak then, to need a crew.” Wendy places a hand on Dipper’s shoulder but drops it just as quickly when he starts to blush. He steps back, startled when the door opens abruptly.

“My son stays out of our business.” The man who opens the door tries to intimidate Dipper but is easily two inches shorter than him. Dipper almost laughs at his tough act. “Other than that, we’re the best in the business.”

“Tell me where Bill is.” Wendy steps forward.

“How do you know Bill?” the man steps backward awkwardly, almost pissing his pants. “Why are you asking?”

“You kidnapped my uncle,” he snaps, pushing the man against the wall and shoving his forearm against his neck. “Where did you take him?”

The man’s eyes widen. “Don’t hurt my kid, please.” 

Dipper falters and steps back as Wendy puts her hand on his forearm.

“We just want to know where Bill is,” Wendy speaks soothingly. “If you tell us, we’ll provide you with a job, a real job, that can help give you and your son a living without the danger of cops.”

Dipper glances at Wendy, somewhat confused as to the direction she was heading in.

“Really? You mean it?”

“Absolutely. Just tell us where you took your last mark- Ford Pines.”

The man nods. “Okay, give me just a minute to get the info.”

The door closes softly and Dipper thinks he sees the small boy again. He waves, in case the little boy is there, and the door opens again. The man hands him a pocket sized leather notebook. “Everything is in this book?”

The man nods swiftly. “Including my number. For the job. I… I need a more stable job.”

“We’ll be in touch,” Wendy assures him.

Dipper fights the urge to grab Wendy’s hand as they turn and walk away to get to his car. 

“I’m ready to talk.”

Dipper starts the car up and starts driving away. “I’m always here to be your soundboard.”

“It’s my dad. He didn’t want to take your job but it… It’s going to pay for my brother to move to New Zealand. And he’s really angry about it.”

Dipper’s hand migrates from the steering wheel to Wendy’s hand and he squeezes it tight. “And how do you feel?”

“Angry, mostly. At both my brother and my dad. My brother for leaving and my dad for acting angry only around me.”

“My offer stands, Wen. Stay at my house any time.”

Wendy sniffles and squeezes his hand. “Thank you, Mason.”

Dipper normally hates being called Mason, but he honestly likes it coming from Wendy.

“I mean it,” he responds as they pull into Mystery Shack’s parking lot. Wendy wipes her eyes quickly and gets out of the car. Dipper follows suit and hurries over to Wendy’s side to give her a hug. He kisses her forehead without thinking, freezes, and blushes.

She hugs tighter and buries her face into the crook of his neck.

“Dipper!” Mabel’s voice startles the pair and they jump apart. “Wendy texted. You have info?”

Dipper nods and pulls the notebook out of his pocket and hands it to her. “We have to give this man a job, though. In exchange for information.”

Mabel nods. “I’m sure the Mystery Shack could use a new crew member.”

“Wait,” Stan interjects. “Why would we use a criminal?”

“Because the criminal justice system and our set of laws punish minorities in this country while helping the majority. And he has a son.” Dipper curtly adds, and moves on. “What’s our next steps?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys it's 12:03 so i was close to submitting it on time. I got my new macbook so i was playing around and kinda forgot to write...


	11. What To Do About Bill

“How are we going to save him? We have his address but what if he has guards or something?”

Mabel’s question falls heavy on everyone. During Weirdmageddon, no one had to worry if he had guards. While Wendy’s dad may have argued that the flying eyeballs and Bill’s friends were guards in and of themselves, and he definitely had a case, everyone in Gravity Falls knew about them and how to avoid them if they didn’t get caught already.

But this time is different. There’s no televised newscast that is telling Dipper where everyone is and what henchmen Bill has. There’s just him, his intuition, and his family. But he has Mabel from the start this time, and he has Wendy from the start, too. He’s confident.

“We’ve always managed,” Dipper finally says after a beat of silence. “We adapt to everything. And there haven’t been any reports of Bill’s friends, so either they’re also weakened or they aren’t here. There also haven't been any reports of the flying eyeballs turning anything to stone, so I think we’re safe from that.”

“The boy is right,” Stan grunts and turns to face the group. “I think we need to go in guns blazing.”

“Not necessarily guns blazing,” Dipper corrects, wincing. “But we need to hurry. If he’s torturing Ford, how long does he have? We need to hurry.”

Everyone falls silent again.

“I agree with Dipper,” Wendy says, her hand finding his again. “But we need to prepare for the worst, like protect everyone’s houses with the unicorn hair again.”

“Grenda may still have some, but it would only be enough for two more houses at the most,” Mabel offers.

“Then we do mine,” Dipper adds. “I have enough rooms that everyone here can have their own room, with the exception of Soos and Melody, and Mabel and Paz sharing.”

Stan grunts. “We still have the shack, kid.”

“I know we do, but don’t you think that would be the first place Cipher would search for everyone?”

Stan grunts again and turns around, Dipper feeling his heart heavy with the thought that Stan is regressing to his old self that they knew when he was 12.

Mabel looks equally as uncomfortable as Dipper looks but she moves to face Dipper. With just a beat of hesitation, she pulls Dipper into a tight hug, Dipper’s arms wrapping around her protectively. Dipper fights back tears.

“We don’t do this enough, Brobro.”

“I know.”

Mabel sniffs and pulls back. “I’ll call Brenda, and if she doesn’t have any then I’ll gather the girls to fight the unicorn again.”

Mabel laughs at Dipper’s puzzled expression.

“I don’t think you’ve ever told me that story before, Mabes.”

“No, I don’t think I did.” Mabel laughs and Dipper smiles, feeling a little bit happier.

Mabel leaves the room to go call Grenda and Dipper turns back to Stan.

“Grunkle Stan, Ford is going to be okay. We all will.”

“How? Bill is back and we don’t know how to kill him. We destroyed that memory taker.” Stan sighs. “If only I didn’t remember, he would still be gone.”

“And if I told Mabel about my dreams, maybe Ford wouldn’t have gotten kidnapped, and if I hadn't made deals with him before maybe none of this would have happened. Both of us are at fault here, okay? Don't just blame yourself here.”

Wendy places her hand on Dipper’s shoulder and stands next to him. “We'll save Ford."

Stan sighs and his shoulders drop. "Don't tell him, but I love the old man."

Soos finally adds to the conversation by saying, "But dude, you're an old man too!"

This relieves a little tension in the room until Mabel comes back.

"Grenda does have some, but it isn't a lot. Enough for Dipper's house only."

"Everyone is moving in to my house, then," Dipper affirms. "We can't risk anyone getting hurt, especially now, and the Mystery Shack is the first place that Bill would look for Stan, Mabel, and Soos."

The three nod and Stan goes upstairs to pack, while Mabel heads to Pacifica's to pick up items like her charger and some clothes. Soos already had stuff at the Shack so he just threw it into a bag and called Melody to pack her stuff, texting her the address.

"Don't you need to pack, Wen?" Dipper asks softly.

"I. Uh. No. It's in my car." Wendy sighs. "I was going to live in my car until I wasn't angry at my dad anymore."

"You've always got a room with me," Dipper assures softly, pulling Wendy into a hug.


	12. Cipher Revealed

Wendy’s thank you is muffled by how her head is pressed into Dipper’s chest. He laughs.

“What was that, hon?”

Wendy pulls away and blushes. “What did you say?”

Dipper blushes hard, stuttering, “I.. uh, I asked what was that, Wen?”

“Oh. I said thank you, Dipper.”

Dipper nods. “Always.”

He can’t help but notice her deflate just a little, as if she wanted him to call her honey, but he shakes off that thought like dogs try to shake ticks. He thinks that it is ridiculous, of everyone in Gravity Falls, he would be the last she would set her eyes on. Nate, maybe, or even Robbie again, sure, but him?

Best shake that thought before he begins to believe anything.

“Uh, should we head to my house to meet people?”

“No, I’ll stay and drive Stan and Soos. Cipher can’t get into the Shack but Stan’s car may be a nice distraction,” Wendy sits down. “Go get your house ready, Mason.”

Dipper hesitates, worrying that Wendy was pushing him away. And also that Soos and Stan in a car would kill her. But mainly the first.

He can't help but remember when Wendy was driving Soos and he kept playing the same song over and over to the point Wendy snapped the CD in half. Better not repeat that again.

So Dipper responds, "No, I'm going to stay here. I can drive Soos, if you want to drive Stan. I figure Soos might get on your nerves more."

Wendy laughs and nods. "Yeah, you're probably right. Thank you."

Dipper nods and sits next to Wendy. He relaxes, just a little bit, when Wendy rests her head on his shoulder. He lets his hand rest on Wendy's knee softly and they sit in silence. Dipper absentmindedly drums his fingers on Wendy's leg, laying his head back and closing his eyes. He hums a quiet tune, feeling Wendy's breathing even out. Asleep. They remain like this until Stan storms down.

"This is bullshit, kid," Stan says. "I'm old, and when it's my time to go it's my time to go."

"But this isn't your time to go," Dipper angrily argues, standing up. Wendy pats his back, trying to calm him down. "Your time to go isn't until you meet your great great nieces or nephews or whatever they identify as. It isn't until we save Ford, and it isn't when Cipher decides on it."

Stan grunts and tosses one of his bags to Wendy. "I need a moment alone with Dipper."

Wendy nods quietly and slips out the door.

"You don't get to tell me what to do, Dipper. You've gotten too big for your britches."

Dipper steps forward and glares at Stan. "No, I don't think you understand," Dipper spits through gritted teeth. "I am simply looking out for you. You made the majority of my summer when I was 12 a living hell. You made me feel worthless. And yet, here I am, helping you. Because I fucking care about you."

"I don't give a shit, Mason. I was making you into a man."

"Then you should recognize how important it was that I finally stood up against you!" Dipper takes another step forward but is shoved back by Stan.

"You don't understand what you're up against, Pine Tree."

Dipper's face goes white. He backs up a few steps, far enough away that Stan can't reach him, and Stan's face cracks into a wide grin. Dipper grabs the glasses off of Stan's face and stares into his eyes.

Yellow stares back.

"Bill!" Dipper yells and steps back.

"Well well well, Dr. Dipper finally gets it. Took you long enough! Let's make a deal. You help me reach my ultimate form and I'll leave this awful body, and I will leave you, your family, and Gravity Falls alone. Whaddya say, Pine Tree?" Stan's voice splits into two distinct tones- Stan's, and Cipher's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I wrote a story, even if short, about Dipper being trans, would y'all read that?


	13. The Choice

Dipper backs up even further, the back of his legs hitting the chair he was just on with Wendy.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Doing my whole taking over the world thing? Or choosing Stanley here as my vessel?” Stan- Bill laughs and walks closer to a terrified Dipper.

“Both!” Dipper shouts, pushing him away. Bill tries to grab Dipper’s arm but shouts in pain and backs up.

“Dipper’s learned new tricks, huh?” Cipher hisses, raising Stan’s hand to show the burning and bleeding hand. “Well, I’m taking over the world because I’m a villain, Pine Tree! And I chose Stanley because, well, it would kill you to know you couldn't save your dear Grunkle… especially with how you and Mabel are fighting over me and all…”

Dipper narrows his eyes and sprints towards Bill/Stan. He shoves Stan against the wall, holding him there at an arm’s distance. Bill in Stan’s body guarantees one thing- weakness. Stan is an old man, considerably weaker than he was when he was in his prime. Bill lashes out with one hand, scratching Dipper’s face but Dipper pushes harder against him.

“Get out of Stan,” Dipper commands. “Or I’ll figure out a way to get you out.”

“I’m not scared of you,” Cipher laughs. “But I do need your help. Help me figure out how to get out of this damn town and I’ll leave Gravity Falls alone.”

Dipper backs up slightly and Bill uses that as an opportunity to slip away from the wall.

“You have three days to think about it.”

Dipper shivers and lets him leave, turning around only when he hears the door behind him open. Wendy.

“Where’s Stan?”

“Bill,” is all Dipper manages to say before he passes out, shock and exhaustion finally getting to him.

He wakes up at his own bed, everyone- minus Stan- sitting around him. He sits up, head pounding. The lights are too bright and even the hushed whispers between Mabel and Wendy feel too loud.

“Dipper!” Mabel shouts, making him wince at the loudness of her voice, before hugging him. He hugs her back, relaxing in familiar arms.

“Stan made a deal with Bill.”

“Stan would never do that,” Soos argues.

“You know Stan, Dipper, why would he do something like that?”

“Probably to try to save Ford, he did it once and I’m sure he’d do it again.”

“He’s only made a deal with Cipher once, dude, and that's if we assume that this is a deal he made,” Wendy adds.

“I meant he risked his life to save Ford once, and I’m sure he’d do it again.”

“I don’t think he would do something like that, though,” Mabel whines. “It’s not like him to help the enemy.”

“Then he was forced, or something, I don’t know!” Dipper whisper yells. “All I know is that Stan tried to attack me and his voice was split between his and Cipher’s and goddammit why can’t Cipher just die!”

Dipper’s uncharacteristic outburst silences the room. Mabel retracts quietly and pats Dipper’s head, not unlike petting a dog. Dipper just sighs and hangs his head, letting everyone leave. He lays back down, rolling over to block the light coming in from the window. He sees red and he sits up, punching his pillow to relieve stress. Calming down, he takes a drink of water that someone left for him- probably Wendy, he assumes.

He stands, going to the window and pulling up the shades to see outside. It’s normal. It’s taunting him. He sighs and sits on his bed, grabbing a notebook and writing down plans to get rid of Cipher- tricks or full on plans. Anything to get his Grunkles back.

But he’s angry again. Why can’t his life be just normal? Why can’t Cipher just leave the Pines family alone? Everything sucks and it’s all his fault for investigating when he was 12. When he was just a stupid boy. Why couldn’t he be smarter then? Why couldn’t he have figured out how to kill Cipher then and there?

He throws his notebook across the room, shouting in anger. He breathes heavily, feeling exhaustion take over. He sits down again after pulling the shades back down and fastening them to ensure they don’t let any light through. Glancing at the clock, he sees that it’s only noon, giving him plenty of time to take a short nap to help his head and his anxiety. He pulls the covers around himself, turning to face the wall.

The other side of his bed dips down and he feels a hand on his back.

“It’s going to be okay,” Wendy murmurs.

“Stay,” Dipper asks.

And she does.


	14. Dipper's Story

Dipper falls asleep easily in Wendy’s arms, feeling like he belongs there. When he dreams he dreams of normal things- not Bill, for once since returning to Gravity Falls. And when he wakes, Wendy is still there, fingers brushing through his hair to untangle the knots that found its way into his hair. He smiles and turns over, facing the redhead.

“Morning,” Wendy yawns and snuggles into Dipper, ignoring his bright red face. He turns to make Wendy more comfortable.

“It’s already morning?” he questions, rubbing his eyes with his hand that isn’t pinned under Wendy.

“You crashed hardcore, dude,” Wendy answers, voice muffled by Dipper’s chest. Dipper laughs, the deep, hearty chuckle making Wendy’s head bounce slightly. She laughs too, turning to lay on her back with Dipper. They stare at the ceiling together, Dipper still trying to shake off the drowsiness.

“Do you really think Stan made a deal with Bill?”

“Yes.” Dipper’s answer is so sure of himself. “He wants me to make a deal with him too.”

“What?” Wendy sits up quickly. “You didn’t think to tell me earlier? Are you an idiot?”

Dipper sits up too, Wendy’s insult stinging.

“Hey, I didn’t say anything because it’s my burden to bear,” he retorts. “Besides, everyone was hung up on me saying Stan made a deal that it slipped my mind.”

“Dipper, that hurts.” Wendy sighs, and Dipper feels confused. “It’s not just your burden to bear. We’re all here for you.”

Dipper says nothing, just swings his legs around and stares, blushing when he realizes he’s only in his boxer briefs, just grateful Wendy was spooning him and not vice versa.

“Dipper, please,” Wendy pleads.

“I… I’m just not used to having people on my side,” he admits.

“We’ve always been here for you,” Wendy tries.

“Yeah, when I was 12,” Dipper argues. “Wendy, when I went rogue and didn’t respond to your text for over a week, where were you? I know you had your own things to deal with but I went silent for a week. I was possessed!”

“I didn’t know that, Mason,” Wendy defends herself.

“But I didn’t respond to you for a week. I know there’s no way in hell you would’ve known that I was commandeered by an actual demon but I would’ve thought you would’ve sent me a ‘you okay?’ text once or twice.”

“Dipper, I’m sorry. It was three years ago and I’m sorry that I was shitty then, but I’ve been trying.” Wendy stands and tries to walk to Dipper. “What about your parents?”

Dipper scoffs and Wendy winces, trying to hide how much his anger affects her. “They’ve never been there for me. Or Mabel, for that matter.”

Dipper raises the window blinds and stares at the deer prancing through the woods.

“They didn’t check up on either of us once since we were 12. We showed up to an empty house. They went on vacation that would last half of the next school year. They left us enough money for food and that’s it. I had to fake being 15 so I could get a job.” Dipper pulls the shades down angrily, turning to face Wendy. “Mabel had her friends and she could always make more once her friends figured out she was my twin. I never had a single friend. I was always alone.”

Wendy’s heart breaks and she reaches out to comfort him. His shoulders drop.

“I was young and dumb when I didn’t text you for a week and, in all honesty, I was probably drunk.” She sighs. “And I’m sorry I wasn’t better. I’m sorry I hurt you. But we’re here now. And you can talk to us.”

“I’m not used to it.”

“I know.” Wendy guides Dipper into sitting down, sitting next to him. “What was Bill asking you to do?”

“He wants me to help him get out of Gravity Falls.” Dipper sighs. “He said he’d leave Gravity Falls alone.”

“We’ll save Ford another way, then, we ha-”

“I was tempted to just do it.” Dipper admits, cutting into Wendy’s sentence. “I wanted to just do it, to save everyone. To save you.”

Wendy rests her forehead on Dipper’s shoulder. “I’d never ask you to do it.”

“I’d volunteer.” Dipper’s statement hangs in the air. “We’ll find a way to defeat Bill. But I was so tempted.”

Wendy kisses Dipper’s shoulder and stands up. “I’m going to make breakfast. And then we can talk about how we’re going to kick Bill’s ass.”

Dipper smiles softly and nods. “I’m going to work on my grant, then, until breakfast is ready.”

Wendy nods and pauses for a second before leaning forward and brushing his hair away from his forehead. She kisses his birthmark before leaving the room, neither of them seeing the blush on each other’s faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if i made a discord so we could like chat/exchange gravity falls theories/idk what else, would you guys want to join?  
> Anyways, i know i am pretty shit at responding to comments but they mean the world to me! they inspire me to keep writing even when authors block is fucking me over. i love y'all and also be gay do crime and as always, chapter next friday:)


	15. He's Watching You, Dipper

Dipper works hard writing his paper for the grant until a knock at his lab’s door distracts him for a minute. He’s working with his first subject, a dead flying eyeball he named Steve, trying to figure out the inner workings of the creature.

“Come in,” Dipper calls out, finishing with the initial dissection and documentation. Wendy enters quietly, smelling like pancakes and syrup.

“Breakfast is done. Ready for a break, doc?”

Dipper chuckles and spins around in his chair, blocking the eye from her view. “I’ll be out in a minute, I have to finish up first.”

“Finish up what?” Wendy tilts her head like a confused puppy, and Dipper’s heart flutters at the absolute cuteness of it. He steps aside to show her the almost done dissection and Wendy just nods. “Makes sense. Don’t take too long, the pancakes will get cold.”

Dipper smiles and turns back around to finish marking his notes and to properly dispose of the corpse.

Man, is he glad he no longer has a weak stomach.

But before he throws the corpse away, he sees a small black circle. He tries to use his scalpel to reach it, but it’s at a place he can’t reach. He’ll have to cut the front, the thought of which makes him gag, thinking of someone cutting his own cornea. Carefully, he flips Steve over and starts the incision until he cuts straight through. He pulls apart the flaps and sees the back of the object, yanking it out.

It’s a camera.

Dipper throws it against the ground as hard as he can, and, when it doesn’t break, stomps on it. The satisfying crunch calms the panic that was rising and he forces down the bile that found its way into Dipper’s throat.

“Dip? What was that?” Wendy’s head pokes into the room, immediately zeroing in on the crushed plastic around Dipper.

“I think Bill was trying to spy on me using Steve.”

“Steve?”

“The flying eyeball,” Dipper elaborates. He rubs his scar and starts pacing back and forth.

Wendy sighs and approaches Dipper. “I’m sure you’re right, Mason. I don’t doubt you for a second. But you need food. You haven’t eaten in almost 24 hours. I’ll clean up for you, okay? Go shower off that formaldehyde smell off of you.”

Dipper nods and, without thinking, kisses Wendy’s cheek before leaving the room. When he reaches his shower is when it hits him and he blushes. He shakes his head, rubs his face, and starts the shower, internally scolding himself for doing such a stupid thing. Stupid in his eyes, at least.

He takes a fast shower, only about 15 minutes from stepping in and heading downstairs to see Wendy dancing in the kitchen to “Like Real People Do” by Hozier.

And right then, he wanted to declare his love. The love that boiled down to simple admiration from when he was twelve, stretching to now. On god or Aphrodite or Hathor or whatever love god was out there (besides Cupid, fuck Cupid), he was going to proclaim it some day. But Wendy turns around and sees him, and the moment passes too quickly for it to be sweet for him to proclaim it then and there.

One day, he promises to himself. One day.

“Dip! Just in time, I decided to make scrambled eggs too!”

Dipper smiles and simply hugs Wendy, murmuring a quiet thank you in her ear.

They sit and eat, making mindless chatter even as they feel the pull to talk about Bill. Breakfast first, then Bill. As Dipper finishes his last bite, Wendy is already cleaning.

“I’ll clean, Wen. You helped me with the eye. Of which we still need to talk about.”

Dipper stands and brings his plates to the sink, taking the towel Wendy had in her hand and tossing it on his shoulder.

“I know for sure it’s Cipher,” Wendy states.

“Why would he spy on me?”

“You have that deal, the one that you have to decide on today.”

Dipper drops the griddle he is cleaning and faces Wendy.

“Shit, that’s today? We need everyone here, ASAP.” Dipper speed cleans his kitchen and throws everything in the dishwasher. “We need a plan to fight him, today. If I say no…”

“He wouldn’t be afraid of hurting one of the Stans,” Wendy fills in for him. He nods. “I’ll text them. They went to the Shack after you blew up.”

“Remind me to apologize,” Dipper winces, then rests his face. “Thank you for not going.”

His voice is soft and apologetic, and Wendy just pulls him into another hug.

Just a few seconds after the hug starts, there’s a heavy blow on the door, followed by two more. They jump apart and Dipper instinctively pulls out his pocket knife, flipping it open.

“When did you get that?” Wendy hisses.

“That’s what you’re focusing on?” Dipper questions. “Not the fact that someone is actively trying to break in?”

“It could be any one of the people I texted! Maybe they were already on their way over,” Wendy reasons, but Dipper is still suspicious.

“I gave everyone keys, there’s no reason for them to be trying to force their way in.”

“Cipher, then,” Wendy yields. “Keep brandishing that knife.”

Dipper cautiously approaches the door and peers through the window.

“Wendy, in the safe room I showed you, there’s some guns. Get one for yourself. I also got an exact replica of the axe you used during my first summer. Both are yours.”

“You’re telling me this now?” Wendy fights to keep her voice quiet.

“Because it’s actually Bill!”

Dipper grabs Wendy’s hand and pulls her to the hidden door. “Okay, so, the unicorn hair probably is preventing him from just appearing in here, but if I open the door it’s an invitation and he can probably get in.”

“I’ll text everyone to stay away until we say it’s clear,” Wendy adds. Dipper pulls the book off and flicks the switch, grabbing Wendy’s hand and pulling her down the path. “It’s dark.”

“It’s supposed to be,” Dipper answers. “When we get to the end of the hallway, the lights will automatically turn on.”

And they do, true to Dipper’s word. They push through the door and Dipper shows Wendy the weapon wall.

“Pick your poison,” Dipper encourages. Wendy straps the axe he told her about to her belt and grabs a handgun. Dipper grabs a shotgun for himself and throws a few more weapons into a duffel bag to arm everyone else up while still keeping the panic room hidden.

“Ready?” Dipper asks.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Wendy affirms. 

_ With you by my side,  _ both think to themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think there's only going to be one or two more chapters left, not including the epilogue, which I already wrote. If you want to chat with me or like, help with future fic ideas, I created a discord server: join here: https://discord.gg/fKa87CC  
> as always, be gay and do crime


	16. Gearing Up

Dipper gestures for Wendy to stay in the doorway as he crawls to his door to check for Bill. He’s gone, thankfully.

“It’s clear.” Dipper walks back to Wendy and grabs her hand. “We can’t wait another day.”

“I know,” Wendy responds, quiet. “They’re almost here.”

Dipper raises Wendy’s hand to his chest, pressing it right above where his heart is. “I’m scared too, but we’ll win. We won last time.”

“How did you know I’m scared?” Wendy asks, looking down at her tattered boots. 

“Because I am,” Dipper admits again. “And because I know you, Wen.”

“That you do.” Wendy chuckles. She hesitates, and looks down again. “Look, there’s something that I need-”

A loud knock on the door makes both of them jump apart.

“It’s probably Mabel and Pacifica.” Wendy notes. “Go get your sister.”

“No, what were you saying?”

“It can wait,” Wendy insists, turning him around to face the door. “Go get your sister and sister-in-law.”

Dipper’s shoulders sag and he resigns to questioning Wendy later. Peeping through the window he sees that it is indeed Mabel and Pacifica, clutching each other tight. He swings the door open and pulls Mabel into a hug, Pacifica joining after a few seconds.

“What happened?” Pacifica asks after Dipper ushers them inside.

“Bill just showed up at my door… He wanted me to make a deal with him and he gave me three days to answer and today is the last day. If I had to guess, the unicorn hair prevented him from just breaking in but that’s just a theory.”

“What was the deal?” Mabel asks, stepping just slightly away from Dipper and leaning into Pacifica’s shoulder.

“He wanted me to help him find a way out of Gravity Falls,” Dipper sighs and turns back to Wendy, who had picked up the bag of firearms. He grabs a grappling hook, just like the one Mabel had her first year in Gravity Falls, and passes it to her. “I have more weapons, take whatever you’re comfortable with.”

Mabel ends up grabbing a shotgun, giving Dipper an amused glance when he raises his eyebrow. “Stan taught me how to use his shotgun the first year you didn’t come back to Gravity Falls. Something about wanting me to have more protection since we didn’t have each other to protect each other.”

Dipper nods, heart sinking at the casualty of the statements. “Uh, I have another shotgun and then two handguns.”

“I’ll take the handgun,” Pacifica grabs the pistol, making sure the safety is on before tucking the gun back into its holster and strapping the shoulder holster to her belt. “I know the basics of a pistol, thanks to my dad.”

Dipper nods and takes the other shotgun from the bag. “I think Soos will want the shotgun.”

“What’s yours, Brobro?”

Dipper moves his flannel away from his waist, showing his gun and his knife strapped to his belt. “I’m not worried about me, I’ve dealt with this shit before. I want you guys to be protected.”

“Soos is here,” Wendy cuts in. “I’ll get him.”

When the pair return, Dipper offers him the shotgun, which he gladly accepts. Wendy takes the last handgun. 

“Well, this is it,” Soos says with an air of finality.

“We either kill Bill or get killed by Bill,” Mabel adds, and then starts laughing. “I’m sorry I’m sorry this is just so ridiculous. We were so young when we defeated him for the first time, and now we’re going head to head with him again.”

Dipper starts laughing too, followed by Wendy and Pacifica.

“God, everything is so fucked,” Wendy chokes out between laughs, wiping a tear from her eye. “So fucked.”

As they settle down, a calm feeling envelops the group.

“If we go down, Bill goes down with us,” Dipper declares.

"We'll be okay," Pacifica insists. "We'll all be okay."


	17. The Final Facedown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long! But I decided to make a mega chapter, like almost 3k words mega. This is the final chapter, the epilogue will be coming soon!

The ride to Bill’s hangout is silent. To be fair, Dipper reasons, what should they listen to? Anything about the apocalypse is too on-the-nose and anything light and cheery is too… well, cheery.

“Do we park up close?” Wendy asks, the silence broken for the first time since they left Dipper’s house.

“Would that just alert him?” Mabel asks. “I think we should park further away.”

Dipper catches a glimpse of a black mark on Mabel’s skin, on her wrist. He grabs her hand softly and pushes up her sleeve. He chokes up when he sees it’s the protection ward against Bill.

“You got the tattoo?” Dipper smiles and feels a weight lift from his shoulders.

“We all did,” Pacifica adds. “This is too dangerous to just have charms.”

Dipper redirects back to Wendy’s original question. “I agree with Mabel… I think he’ll have something or someone on the lookout, at least close by.”

“We need to be on high alert,” Soos nods. It gives Dipper chills down his spine, how serious Soos is in the moment. Trauma really does age people, Dipper notices, and Soos isn’t the childish man-baby he was before he and Mabel arrived at Gravity Falls years ago.

Wendy parks the car far enough away that they agree Bill probably won’t notice the car, but close enough that all of them can make it to the building. Dipper’s heart is beating fast, nerves catching up to him. His hand rests on his gun, ready to pull it out at any moment.

They tread quietly, carefully avoiding any snapping twigs or loud, crunchy leaves.

Soos is the first to see the building, pointing at a barely visible, dilapidated grey mansion peeking out from above the trees. He points at it eagerly.

“Watch out for the floating eyeballs,” Dipper warns. “Bill was spying on me through one earlier.”

They quiet again, slowly approaching the mansion as everyone’s nerves reach an all time high. When the fence is nearly on them, an alarm blares.

“He knows,” Wendy blurts. “We have to hurry.”

Dipper starts to climb the fence but pauses and looks down. Soos looks squeamish and stepped away from the fence rather than towards.

“I… I dunno if I can do this, dude.”

Dipper gestures for the rest of the group to jump over before dropping down next to Soos.

“What’s up, buddy?”

“Melody… Melody is pregnant. What if I die?”

“Soos,” Dipper steps forward and places his hand on Soos’s shoulder. “If you’re too scared, why don’t you go back to the car? That way, if we’re in trouble, you can be there, ready to drive us away? Less danger.”

Soos nods. “Are you sure?”

“Soos, you need to protect your family first. You can’t do that dead. We all understand.”

As Dipper’s boot finds a foothold in the fence, he hears Soos retreat.

He jumps over the final bit of fence, landing in between Wendy and Mabel. His hand slips into Wendy's very naturally, and he gives it a tight squeeze. “Together.”

They sprint closer to the mansion but are thrown back by four large flying eyeballs exploding out of the ground. Pacifica whips out her handgun and shoots two of them dead center, Wendy nabbing the third with her thrown axe. Dipper rolls to his stomach and pushes himself up, helping Pacifica and Mabel up as Wendy jogs to retrieve her axe.

“My arm is bleeding,” Mabel points out in a daze.

Dipper shrugs his flannel off and uses his knife to tear the sleeve off, tying it around Mabel’s arm near her elbow.

“You’ll be okay. It’s minor.” Dipper reassures and gives her a hug to ground her. “You’re okay.”

“We have to make a break for it, Mabel,” Pacifica warns. “There’s more coming from the forest.”

Mabel’s still in a daze, he notices, so he grabs her in a fireman’s carry and starts running, Wendy and Pacifica following suit.

“I think she hit her head!” Dipper shouts, sprinting as fast as he can.

“It could be shock,” Wendy offers.

They reach a cluster of trees that offer them some semblance of protection, and Dipper lowers Mabel to the ground. He attempts to perform a check up on Mabel but her eyes refocus and she pushes Dipper away. “I’m sorry, I just had a panic attack. I’m okay.”

He squeezes her shoulder. “Okay. We’re close to the mansion, and I think there’s a side door that I bet Wendy can chop down if it’s locked.”

“It’s right there,” Mabel points out a dull grey door, nearly hidden to the group. 

“Make a break for it on three?” Wendy offers, and Dipper and Pacifica nod.

Dipper slides his hand into his sister’s, needing her support to steel his nerves.

“One.” Dipper breathes deep.

“Two.” He crouches, ready to break into a sprint that’s familiar to his college track star days- short and fast.

“Three.” He pushes off, hearing only the thump of his feet hitting the ground.

He reaches the door first, pressing his back against the rotting wood. He watches his family follow him in pressing their backs to the wood.

“Wendy, it’s your turn,” Dipper tries to joke, but it falls flat.

Wendy braces herself and swings down, splintering the wood by the lock. She kicks the door with her heel, and the remaining wood breaks apart. The door swings open.

Dipper pulls out his flashlight and shines it into the dark room. The group cautiously walk into the room, trying to figure out where Bill, Stan, and Ford are.

They’re startled by Bill’s voice, right behind them.

“So you found my mansion, huh?” Dipper spins and instinctively punches, feeling his fist punch what felt like pure energy. “Ohoho you’re too late.”

Bill laughs maniacally and throws Dipper back.

“Your grunkles are going to break soon, and when they do… Well, it won’t be good, especially for you,  _ Dipper.” _

“Find them, I’ll hold him off,” Dipper shouts to Wendy, charging at Bill. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees blonde hair joining him.

“I’ll stick with you,” Pacifica says right before punching Bill right where they know it hurts- the eye.

“You bitch!” Bill screams and kicks Pacifica back, causing her to fall.

_ Crunch. _

The noise almost makes Dipper puke. Bill is still hunched over so he takes the opportunity to sprint to Pacifica and assess her arm.

“Broken,” he mumbles. He grabs his already ripped flannel and fashions it into a makeshift sling. “Try not to move this. I’ll get Bill.”

Dipper springs up and turns to face a now-recovered Bill. He pulls out his gun and aims it at him.

“You do  _ not  _ want to fuck with me, Bill.” Dipper growls, feeling his finger settle on the trigger.

Asking a 12 year old Dipper if he wanted to hurt anyone, his only answer would be maybe Robbie, but generally no. Any qualms he’s ever had with violence since he was young? Well, he has none now.

“Dipper!” Mabel shouts behind him, making him jump. “We’ll solve this another way, we found them.”

But Dipper’s eyes are still on Bill, his hands steady as he aims at the yellow freak.

“Mason, please,” Wendy’s soft voice pleads with him. He feels himself relax ever so slightly.

“Listen to your girlfriend, Dippy,” Bill snarls.

Dipper growls, taking another step forward. Leveling the gun at Bill’s eye, he shoots. His weak spot.

Bill screams in pain and falls back. “I’m going to get you, Pine Tree!”

Dipper turns to face the girls. “Okay I’ll grab Stan, you two figure out how to carry Ford.”

As he pulls Stan on his back, he grunts.  _ Lay off the Pit Cola, dude,  _ he can’t help but think. 

“I texted Soos to drive up the driveway, we can’t carry both incapacitated Grunkles through the woods.” Wendy adds.

Sure enough, Soos is there, ready to help the group.

“Where are we going, dawgs?”

“DIPPER!” Bill roars from inside the house.

“Where can we go?” Mabel asks Dipper.

“Wait, remember the fake river monster?”

“Yes, but what does that have to- OH.”

“So?”

“Yeah, yeah. But the closest way is-”

“Above, not below,” Dipper rubs his birthmark.

“Wait, grappling hook!”

Dipper snaps and points at Mabel. “You’re a genius!”

“I know!” Mabel giggles and they pack the car tight. Dipper takes the wheel this time.

“Hold tight,” he advises, and he slams the gas. The car lurches and speeds off. In the rearview mirror he sees Bill slam the front door open, his still bleeding eye catching his.

Dipper shudders but focuses on the road.

“Are they awake?” Soos asks.

“No, but they’re breathing. They’re okay.” Mabel breathes for the first time in over a week.

“Get your grappling hook ready,” Dipper warns in a low voice as he sees the edge of the water.

“How are we gonna get us all down?” Pacifica groans.

“The hook, I upgraded it. It’s going to spike through the ceiling, and it can handle the weight of everyone and the car, and I’m going to climb out and push the car with you all in it through.”

“That’s dangerous, Dipper,” Wendy argues.

“And? It’s the only option we have.”

Wendy sighs but relents.

He skids the car to a halt and grabs the grappling hook from Wendy.

And it almost goes to plan. Almost.

The car hits the water just a little too rough and Ford hits his head on the window but other than that it’s fine it’s fine. Totally fine. He ignores the sting in his shoulder.

He tries to push the car but, against his highest hopes and pleas to whatever ethereal being there is out there, he can’t get the car to move against the current. He bangs on the window and Mabel understands. She pulls the headrest from her seat quickly and smashes the window of the now dead car with the metal prongs.

“We have to swim. I can barely keep the car from moving back,” Dipper sputters as a heavier wave sends water down his throat. He helps Mabel break the rest of the windows and pulls people through, acutely aware of the growing sound of Bill’s shouts.

“Hurry!” he pleads with Soos, who’s even more scared now. “Listen, I’ll get you home to Melody. Whatever it takes. I’ll put myself in front of you, if I need, but we have to get behind that waterfall right fucking now.”

At the reassurance, Soos nods and squeezes through the window. Dipper sighs in relief and helps Mabel pull out an unconscious Stan. He wraps the old man’s arms around his neck, holding them together with one of his hands, using the other to pull Ford out. Wendy situates Ford similarly, and the group swims towards the waterfall.

While the water is absolutely cold, Dipper knows the waterfall will be even colder, but he pushes on.

_ For his family. _

The water hits his head and he gasps, fighting to stay above the water. He was right, it’s fucking freezing. The shock to his body is harder to handle than Stan on his back. But finally he’s at the bank of the river hidden behind the waterfall and he drags Stan with him, collapsing to his knees when Stan is situated on his back.

For just one second today, he lets himself just breathe. Just one second.

He pulls away from the group to retch, the events of the day finally catching up to him. A soft hand rests on his neck and the scent of pine and cedar surround him.

“Hey Mason,” Wendy speaks softly, rubbing her hand on his back as he settles down.

“Sorry,” he mumbles as he stands up. “Sorry.”

“Hey, hey, there’s nothing to apologize for,” Wendy insists, giving him a water-soaked tissue to wipe his mouth with. He accepts it gratefully, grossed out at the acid taste in his mouth.

“I mean I’m puking while everyone else is trying to wake Ford and Stan up, for one. And I couldn’t defeat Bill even when we had the perfect opportunity to. I should’ve mentioned my nightmares earlier,” Dipper’s thoughts come fast and nimble, leaving Wendy a second behind to process them.

“Dipper, none of this is your fault. Bill’s just… he’s fucking ridiculous. He can’t accept defeat.” Dipper just shrugs. Wendy sighs and grabs his hand. “We should help them wake Ford and Stan. We’ll talk about this later.”

Wendy gives him a pointed look and he blushes, staring at his feet.

She pulls him away from his thoughts, quite literally, and brings him back to the group.

“Dip, your plan worked!” Mabel shouts and hugs him. “Ew, your breath smells like vomit. Here.”

“Where?” Dipper falters, staring at the pack of gum she holds out. “How?”

“I broke him,” Mabel whispers to Soos, who belly laughs. “In my pocket, silly. Never go anywhere without it.”

Dipper accepts the gum gratefully, thinking he probably should sleep a little more before dealing with end of the world shit when he knows it’s coming.

“Okay, Soos, take off their belts,” Dipper orders, going towards the old men’s feet. “Mabel, grab Stan’s feet and raise them about a foot off of the ground. This will get the blood to his head and hopefully wake him.”

Dipper does the same with Ford’s feet. Color returns to both faces, and Dipper lets a sigh pass his lips. Ford stirs first, and Dipper lets his feet drop but stops him from sitting up. 

“Where am I?” Ford chokes out between coughs.

“Behind the waterfall,” Mabel supplements. “Bill will be here soon, Dip, we need to think of a plan.”

“I…” Dipper sighs and sits down. “I don’t know.”

“He’s still not super strong, but he grows stronger every day,” Ford reassures the group. “Go for his eye. It’ll make him human enough”

Soos nods but pales as he pats his body. “Dawg, I don’t mean to scare you but I los-”

“Lost his gun, Pine Tree!”

Dipper turns quickly, leveling his own gun at Bill’s eye. But he’s too close to the rest for him to be comfortable with shooting. Bill just gets closer, and Dipper notices the gun he gave Soos in Bill’s hand.

_ Whatever it takes. I’ll put myself in front of you, if I need,  _ rings in his head. Whatever it takes.

He lowers the gun and slowly approaches Bill. He clicks the safety off, but opts to pull out his knife.

“Ohoho, Pine Tree is feeling brave today!” Bill taunts.  _ Level head,  _ Dipper commands of himself. His other hand falls to his belt where his knife is clipped in. With one swift motion, he flicks the knife open and stabs Bill’s eye.

The screech of the yellow triangle makes Dipper shudder. The scream doesn’t last long at all, with Bill’s hands shooting forward and grabbing Dipper’s head.

“MASON!” Wendy howls, trying to bolt forward, only to be held back by Ford.

“Wendy, you’ll just make it worse!” Ford coughs.

“You know where to hit me where it hurts, Pine Tree,” Bill growls, blood dripping from his eye. Dipper watches, helpless against Bill’s strong hand, as he kicks away Mabel.

“You know how the saying goes, don’t you? An eye for an EYE!”

As he screeches, he brings his hand down to Dipper’s eye. His thumb brushes over the eyelashes and Dipper tries to pull away, only to be pulled even closer to the yellow monster.

“If you struggle, it’ll hurt worse,” Bill laughs, blindly searching for Dipper’s knife. He pulls it out of his own eye and leverages it to Dipper’s.

Searing pain. That’s all Dipper can think. His nausea returns because of the pain, bile trying to force it’s way up his throat. He swallows it down and tries to think through the pain.

_ BANG! _

Dipper’s released. He falls to the ground, screaming in pain. He touches his cheek, right below his eye, his hand coming away from it sticky and  _ red. _

He falls to his back, faintly seeing Wendy holding her gun where Bill was just seconds ago.

“Mason!” Wendy shouts, dropping her gun. She kneels next to him, her hands cradling his head.

“I have to say this now, Wendy. I love you. You made this summer so nice. I know you probably don’t feel the same, but I love you so much. Thank you for being my friend.”

Dipper lets the dark wash over himself, passing out.

He wakes with bandages over his eye. He squints, trying to get his good eye adjusted to the blinding light. He sniffs. It smells… clean. Hospital.

“Mason, you’re up!”

Wendy.

He blinks, the hazy image clearing up. 

“Mason, I love you too.” Wendy sniffles, then punches his shoulder.

“OW! What was that for?”

“For making me think you were gone!” Wendy pushes Dipper to the side of the bed, climbing on and cuddling up to him. “You… you lost your eye. There was nothing they could do.”

“It’s okay. I’ll get through it, as long as I’m with you.” Dipper smiles softly. "I love you."  


"I love you too," Wendy mumbles, smiling contentedly as Dipper wraps his arm around her.


	18. Epilogue

_ Epilogue _

Mabel squeals as Dipper shows her the red velvet box.

“You’re  _ proposing!”  _

Dipper laughs. “That is typically what a ring in a box that I’ve had to hide from Wendy means, yes.”

Dipper stumbles back as Mabel’s arms wrap around his neck. “I’m so excited for you! First you get paid a lot of money to keep researching in Gravity Falls and now I’ll be able to call Wendy my sister-in-law and  _ mean it!  _ Just like you and Paz!”

Dipper laughs and opens the box to show Mabel and Pacifica the ring. The silver band is simple and the gem in the middle isn’t the usual diamond, not like what Pacifica got for Wendy’s engagement ring. Instead, it’s green to match her usual attire.

Dipper grins as he shoves it back in his pocket. Not a moment too late, too, as Wendy appears.

“Found us a table!” Wendy smiles and offers Dipper ice. “For your eye.”

The three follow the excited redhead, Dipper gratefully putting the ice over his eyepatch.

\----

Dipper stands awkwardly in his suit, the box in his pocket. He smiles at his soon to be fiance (hopefully) as she walks in.

“Ready, Mason?”

“Of course, love.”

Dipper follows her to their shared car.

“So are you gonna tell me where we’re going?”

“Mmmm… no.” Dipper laughs at Wendy’s whine of annoyance. “You’ll figure it out when we get there, anyways.”

Wendy sighs, conceding. “Fineeeeee.”

Dipper’s hand finds Wendy’s.

“I love you,” the words fall out of Dipper’s mouth easily.

The “I love you, too” that Wendy says falls just as easily.

“The lake?” Wendy asks.

“Yeah. I thought we could go on a picnic?”

“In these formal clothes?” Wendy laughs. “I mean, I’m definitely down. But why in these clothes?”

“The fanciest restaurant we have here is Greasy’s Diner,” Dipper laughs too, understanding the absurdity. “And I wanted an excuse to get fancy for you. And to see you in that  _ ravishing  _ dress.”

Wendy blushes, punching Dipper’s arm softly. “You sap.”

“You love it!”

“Yeah, but most importantly, I love you.”

“And I love you.”

Dipper’s nerves over proposing melt away.

Of course he asked, first, if she thought marriage was in their future.

_ “I’d marry you today, Mason.” _

Dipper smiles at the memory as he parks the car. The food he prepared is still warm, thankfully, so they can still eat a good meal.

“Your cooking skills have definitely improved,” Wendy comments as she finishes her plate.

“I had a very good teacher,” Dipper winks. “Wanna swim?”

“In these clothes?”

“I won’t say no to you stripping,” Dipper teases. Wendy rolls her eyes, pressing a kiss to Dipper’s cheek before standing up and turning away to begin to strip. Dipper quickly shifts into a kneeling position and flips open the ring box, giving Pacifica the sign to start recording from the bushes. Dipper taps Wendy’s shoulder before she starts giving a strip tease to the camera.

“Dipper!” Wendy gasps, covering her mouth.

“Wendy, I love you so much. You make me so happy. Happier than 12-year-old me would have ever thought possible. More than 16-year-old me thought I deserved. More than I’ve ever been. You are the love of my life,” Dipper pauses, trying not to cry himself. “Not just that, but you’re my hero. You didn’t give up on me, even when I gave up on myself. When I lost my eye, you were always there for me. You make me want to be a better person, too. You’re the only person I’m comfortable with calling me Mason, and I… I couldn’t do this life thing without you. You inspire me every single day, and I want to be able to be there for you for the rest of our lives. Please make me the happiest man alive and agree to let me be your husband. Will you marry me?”

“Oh my god, yes!” Wendy shouts, tears now flowing freely from both Wendy and Dipper’s eyes. Dipper hastily slips the ring on her finger, smiling as it slides into place, perfectly. Dipper looks up with nothing but admiration in his eyes for Wendy.

“I love y- mph!” Dipper’s eyes widen in shock as Wendy pulls him up using his tie, kissing him suddenly.

“I love you so much,” Wendy sighs, smile on her lips.

\------

“You ready, Brobro?” Mabel asks, donning a black and red dress.

“Never been more ready, Mabel,” Dipper smiles, hugging the short girl. “Let’s go get the girl.”

Never the ones for tradition, what with Wendy being the breadwinner between the two, Stan and Ford stand in front of the altar. The ministers.

Dipper and Mabel then follow, both smiling broadly. He gives the Stans hugs, sharing his contagious smile.

“How ya doing, kid?” Ford asks.

“I’m about to marry the love of my life, so I’d say damn well.”

Dipper turns and watches little Stella, only 17 months old, try to throw the petals on the aisle, being supported with one hand by Soos.

“Good luck, dawg!” he whispers as Stella throws the final petal.

He turns as Wendy’s bridesmaid, Pacifica, walks down the aisle and stands opposite of Mabel, blowing her wife a kiss. Then the music starts. Dipper turns and tears up at Wendy walking down the aisle, escorted by Manly Dan.

Tradition was thrown away here, too. Instead of the white dress, since everyone knows no one in this situation is a virgin, she wears a red and black dress. The red matches Dipper’s tie, boutonniere, and, funniest to both the bride and the groom, his socks.

He starts crying as Wendy gets closer, happiness washing over him. Dan passes Wendy off to him.

“I rarely have approved of Wendy’s boys, but you… I like you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Hush. It’s Dad now.”

Dipper smiles. It isn’t his own parents but that’s just fine. Manly Dan is better.

Wendy’s hands are calloused in his. It’s fine, his are too. The woodworker smiles softly at the researcher. 

“Dearly beloved!” Stan smiles broadly. “That’s how this is supposed to start off, I think. I’ve only been married once and we all know how that turns out. But I’ve seen both of these lovely people blossom from awkward teens- preteen, in Dipper’s case- to strong and confident adults. We all have been through hell, together. But no one has faced the brunt of it like Dipper. He lost his eye!”

“But he rolled with those punches, didn’t he, Stan?” Ford adds. “Even when Dipper was young, he was always more confident with Wendy on his side. Always. And, while I may not be qualified to tell you guys about love, I’d like to imagine that’s what true love is.”

“Two people, whole while apart but stronger together, find themselves to be more at peace when with each other. Calmer, more confident, and, hell, alive.” Stan chokes up. “Dipper is like the grandson I never had. Wendy is the granddaughter I never had.”

“Incest-y implications of that sentence aside,” Ford nudges Stan, glaring. “We’re so happy to be joining these two together to be married.”

“I hope you prepared vows?”

Dipper and Wendy nod. Wendy starts.

“Even when you couldn’t come back here over the summer, you were always my number one supporter. You convinced me that, even though college wasn’t for me, I was still enough. You convince me of that every day. I’m enough. I have never felt more alive than when I’m by your side. Whether that’s spontaneously swimming in the river or exploring the depths of the cave behind the waterfall, you make me feel like I’m enough.” Wendy wipes a tear away from her face. “Together, we can face everything.”

“Dipper,” Ford nudges the younger man. “Your turn.

“Wendy… You were there for me at my lowest low. No one healed me but myself, but you recognized that. You knew I had to get better myself. But you never left. On the days where I could feel Bill rip my eye from it’s socket, you made sure to hold me while I shook. On the days where I was nothing but angry at the world, you made me tea and talked to me about it. I healed myself, but I couldn’t have done it without you. You’re my better half, Wendy. You made these past two lives the best ever, and I can't wait to see what's in store for us.”

“Now tell me this, Wendy. Do you take Dipper to be your husband?”

“Fuck yes,” Wendy grins, raising her hand in apology to the children in attendance.

“And Dip, do you take Wendy to be your wife?”

“You bet your ass.” Dipper grins again.

“Then that does it!” Stan shouts. “Kiss each other and be wedded!”

Dipper chuckles before grabbing Wendy as close as he can, their lips connecting.

They break apart, foreheads just barely touching. 

“I could do that forever,” Dipper admits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well kiddos, it looks like this is the end. keep an eye out for my other works- I'm in the process of writing a Korra/Asami fic if you like Legend of Korra, and then also a trans!Dipper Dipper/wendy story.  
> So, for one last time:  
> be gay and do crimes


End file.
